Wisconsin Regulators and Microsoft Question Utility Plan for Data Center Costs

Wisconsin regulators and Microsoft have expressed concerns about a utility proposal to shield existing customers from data center transmission costs. The proposal, made by American Transmission Co. (ATC) and We Energies, aims to calculate a minimum transmission charge for Microsoft's data center in Mount Pleasant.

The deal would require We Energies to pay for the full amount of transmission capacity requested for the data center, even if it uses less energy than expected. However, Microsoft and state regulators argue that this approach may not accurately reflect the costs associated with serving the data center.

Microsoft has stated that the proposed agreement contains 'significant deficiencies' and 'may not be just and reasonable.' The company is asking federal regulators to initiate settlement proceedings to resolve these issues.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) also raised concerns about the proposal, saying it was an improvement over the status quo but still needed work to achieve fair transmission rates. The PSC noted that ATC's cost allocation structure could shift interconnection costs to other customers, even if demand materializes as planned.